Remembering the Vongola
by Kanjecture
Summary: Who are all these people walking into his life, and why do they all seem to know him so well? Because for the most part, he has never seen them before in his life… or more correctly to say, his memory. All27
1. Who Are You?

Remembering the Vongola

Summary: Who are all these people walking up to him, and why do they all seem to know him so well? Because, for most of them, he has never seen them before in his life… or more correctly to say, his memory.

Pairings: Everybody x Tsuna. A Tsuna bicycle, capiche?

Warnings: The rating may or may not go up later on in the story. Be warned. There may also be profanity and nudity and a whole lot of Tsuna loving, because that is required in life. Yes, Tsuna, that means some tough love. Did I mention bad writing is included in this also?

Disclaimer: I own not the too-cool-for-me Katekyo Hitman Reborn series. If I did, I'd probably have the whole set of the manga, which I desire badly. Which I do not have. (Sadly.)

A/N Hi everyone! Thanks for checking out this story. It's my first one, so it'd be nice if I could get some constructive criticism or advice, yes? (Or you could like, just review for the heck of it.) Thank you!

EDITED: MAY 31, 2010

* * *

_CHAPTER ONE: WHO ARE YOU?_

Fluffy brown hair lay clumped on a crinkled pillow as the owner, a rather undersized teenage boy of 14, still with round cheeks and baby fat, tossed and turned on his increasingly messy bed, blankets tangled up in his legs and twisted around his torso.

His name was Sawada Tsunayoshi, but he was more commonly known to his peers as 'Dame-Tsuna'. Average in life- well, really, below average. _Way _below average. No friends to speak of, dismal grades, and the unfortunate talent of failing anything and everything that required thinking, athletic skill, or talent.

Tsuna's crush on the school's idol, Sawada Kyoko (who had the brightest smile and the shiniest hair and the prettiest face and the nicest personality so that when she grinned the whole world seemed to light up with her) was unreturned, and he knew it was implausible for Kyoko-chan to notice him aside from his spectacularly stupid feats, like that one time he fell of his chair while sleeping or another where the teacher had asked him how planets there were in the solar system and he had answered two (one planet was him and the other was Kyoko, the only sun in his life. Wait, did the sun even count as a planet?).

Groaning sleepily, Tsuna turned on his side to wake up to the bright light of the rising sun shining through his window and the glare of light it caused on the floor of his messy bedroom, where magazines, underwear, and other miscellaneous things you would expect to find a teenage boy's bedroom lay. And unfortunately, he also woke to the unceasing ringing of his alarm clock, high, tinny, and _annoying_, which, when he checked, had already been going on for twenty five minutes.

'_Oh no!'_

"WAHHH!"

He scrambled out of bed and tripped on a conveniently misplaced video game console, which resulted in the mass tangling of his both his feet, winding up his ankles, and he wound up falling and smacking his head against the low table standing innocently on the floor of his messy, messy, room.

He groaned for a moment on the ground, eyes dazed and a big red egg shaped lump growing on his forehead, throbbing with pain.

"Owww…"

He rubbed his head vigorously as he shot back up and stumbled about, grabbing the clothes articles strewn around his room and throwing them on in the miraculous time of 0.27 seconds while at the same time grabbing his school bag, putting on his socks, and brushing his hair. Who says that only girls can multitask efficiently?

Rushing to the bathroom, he groaned at his reflection, because he so _obviously _looked like he got out of bed five seconds ago. He splashed his face with water and went on to speed brush his teeth, still despairing at his unmanly appearance.

'Shouldn't I be getting at least one or two hairs on my face by now?' Tsuna griped. He so wanted to start shaving like most of the other kids in his class. Okay, self-deprecation done for the day.

He hopped down the stairs two steps at a time, turning sharply into the kitchen to snatch up a piece of toast, shouting a brief "!" to his mother, who, smiling as he grabbed his backpack, saw him off as he threw on his shoes. Stepping on the backs of them, he tripped out the door and fell onto the street, living up to his Dane Tsuna name, where he began his annual dash-madly-toward-school-so-Disciplinary-Committee(note: Hibari)-does-not-beat-you-up.

Nana followed his back down the street, and her smile dimmed.

~~27~~

Tsuna made it to made it to school with eighteen seconds to spare; a personal record, if he did say so himself. He threw himself into his classroom, gasping air like an out of water tuna.

His classmates glanced back at him and some snickered and pointed at the useless look on his face.

"Feh, how lame."

"Heheh, he's so slow it probably takes him an hour to get out of bed, let alone getting to school in time."

"Haha, probably! Did you see what time he got when we ran the mile the other day? Twenty one minutes! And he was actually running the entire way, the loser. I swear, we lapped him twice while we were only walking."

Tsuna blushed as he scrambled off the floor, tripping to his inconspicuous spot near the back of the classroom.

"Ahhh…" he sighed as he plopped down at his desk, readying himself for another tiring school day. It would most definitely drawn-out with lecturing teachers, jeers, laughs on his expense and (though he would never admit out loud) loneliness.

'_For what are we without friends?'_

He propped up his head on his hand and stared ahead blankly as the bell that signaled the start of homeroom began ringing.

Because Tsuna knew that he, without friends, was indeed nothing. A passing thought, a just-there statue that nobody really took notice of.

Time passes, and he is a lingering memory.

And speaking of lingering…

He started to get that strange, curiously tingly feeling that occurs when someone is looking at you, making the skin on his back prickle uncomfortably.

Tsuna glanced behind him and eeped as stormy green eyes bored into him. The Italian transfer student- what was his name again? Naserera? Gonusera? Ahoudera? Was drilling holes into the back of his head, as if trying to see into his very thoughts.

Eyes wide and frightened, like a mouse that had just realized there was a starving cat behind him, he turned his head back around, only to catch the gaze of Yamamoto Takeshi, leaning back in his chair, who held his eyes for a single smoldering moment before turning his attention back toward the blackboard.

'_Eh? Ehhh!'_

Tsuna exclaimed in his mind as his head whirled with possibilities why the two arguably most popular guys in Namimori Middle were glaring murder at him.

'_Did- did I do something to offend them!' _ Tsuna thought in panic mode.

'_No, no, that can't be it. I'm not important enough to offend people of their caliber, right? Dame-Tsuna can't possibly do something so bad that it would insult the higher echelon of Namimori.' _He tried to assure himself, but sadly, to no avail.

'_Wah! What if they decide to beat me up? N-no, they were probably just glancing this way for some reason, not because of me. I mean, I hope not because of me. Oh my god, what if it's because of me? No, that's too self centered; they were probably just looking at each other. Oh! That's it. They were looking at each other and they're in a fight so that's why they were glaring.'_

The tuna sighed in relief as he finally came up with a logical explanation at why they were possibly glaring at him (No! Not at him! At each other!) And sunk down in his chair so that he wouldn't get caught in the crossfire of the glare beams again.

Nevertheless, he still could not get past that strange prickling feeling…

##59##

It was lunch time, and Tsuna was, once again sitting on the rooftop all on his lonesome, eating his bento lunch (Sausage octopuses! Apple rabbits! Carrot flowers! What did his mother think he was, three? He was a manly man now, thank you very much. But, those apple rabbits…).

The sky was roiling with blue over head, the sun shining with fierce light, occasionally dampened with stray clouds that would shield the bright rays momentarily.

Tsuna was lying on his back, head on his hands, cloud gazing.

"Ah… " He sighed. "What a nice day…"

He continued watching the clouds drift for a couple moments, sometimes momentarily distracted by the bright blue of the backdrop that was the sky, or the blinding light of the sun, feeling quite at peace, when suddenly, the door to the rooftop opened.

Tsuna sat up quickly, startled, as he tried to catch sight of the intruders that dared to interrupt his peaceful lunchtime.

'_Well, no, this is basically the school's rooftop. But aren't I usually the only one to come up here?' _Tsuna thought.

Gokudera (Ah! That was his name!) And Yamamoto eventually came out from behind the door after a rather awkward pause.

"A-ah!" Hurriedly, Tsuna turned around, willing them to not notice his small corner, reluctant to get involved between a fight of these Namimori elite.

'_Should- should I get out of here! What if they blow me up or something for witnessing their fight?' _he panicked.

Suddenly, a warm touch on his shoulder made him jump as he whipped his head around, big brown eyes staring in shock at one Yamamoto Takeshi, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"Tsu- ah, Sawada-san, don't be so jumpy! We don't bite!" he laughed off. "We just want to, uh, s-sit with you? I mean, if you'd let us…" Yamamoto stumbled over his words.

It was no surprise Yamamoto Takeshi was one of the most popular guys at Namimori Middle. The messy, onyx black hair that stuck up every which way practically begged you to run your hands through it, and that open smiley face and warm brown eyes just invited girls to flock to him. His talent at baseball helped also; a handsome friendly guy that had a super toned body from being the very best on the elite Namimori baseball team? It was practically over kill.

Actually, it _was _overkill. Nearly every girl in Namimori began foaming at the mouth if he even looked at them. (Tsuna steered clear of them when they did this. A rabid fan girl is a _scary _fan girl.)

Well, of course Tsuna didn't notice that the awesomely studly looks of Yamamoto right now. He was a healthy teenage boy. He liked girls. Right? Right.*

"O-of course!" Tsuna sat up straight, shocked. "That is, if you want to…" he trailed off.

'_What's happening? What? I thought they were in a fight! Why do they want to sit next to me now?' _Tsuna panicked.

They plopped down next to him, Gokudera to his right and Yamamoto to his left. Gokudera was glaring at the ground between his legs, and Yamamoto kept peeking looks over at him.

Awkward silence ensued.

Tsuna just as awkwardly chewed on his octopus sausages, which strangely enough, reminded him of Gokudera hair, silvery and sleek. His handsome foreign face, already gaining the chiseled features that would surely make him the bomb with the ladies when he grew older, held the piercing green eyes that Tsuna had previously glimpsed. The rings on his fingers glinted as he silently opened his curry bun, bringing attention to long slim piano fingers, attached to broad hands.

'_Oh my god. What do I do! Should I initiate conversation? Are they expecting me to say anything?' _

Tsuna nervously opened his mouth to speak, but choked when Gokudera spoke instead.

"You really don't remember, do you?"

* * *

* A/N: Not for long. Sorry Tsuna. No, no, wait.

I'm not.


	2. It's Not So Bad

**Remembering the Vongola**

Summary: Who are all these people walking up to him, and why do they all seem to know him so well? Because, for most of them, he has never seen them before in his life… or more correctly to say, his memory.

Pairings: Everybody x Tsuna. A Tsuna bicycle, capiche?

Warnings: The rating may or may not go up later on in the story. Be warned. There may also be profanity and nudity and a whole lot of Tsuna loving, because that is required in life. Yes, Tsuna, that means some tough love. Bad writing is also forewarned. (and maybe a little bit of gore.

Disclaimer: I own not the Katekyo Hitman Reborn series. I'm not cool enough.

A/N Hi everyone! Thanks for checking out this story. And for the people who reviewed, THANK YOU SO MUCH! I didn't even expect five. You guys really made my day! And, the question that most people asked was, 'Why did Tsuna lose his memory?' –laugh- Well, I'll get to that in later chapters. Gotta keep up the mystery! It's the spice of life.

Oh, by the way, I edited the first chapter, because I re-read it, and it was terrible. It's not as terrible now, so, I think I'll be satisfied. For now. –dun dun-

Thanks for putting up with me! Again, I would love some insight on how to improve or any mistakes in my writing. :D

(And hurray! This chapter is about, 1,000 more words then the one before.)

* * *

_CHAPTER TWO: IT'S NOT SO BAD_

"E-eh? What do you mean? Remember what?" said Tsuna confusedly, accidentally dropping one of his rabbit apples as he looked up at Gokudera, whose eyes had gone tight.

Gokudera's eyebrows crumpled in on each other. His face seemed to collapse under the weight of an unknown grief and it screwed up as if he were going to cry.

"Because we weren't strong enough…" he whispered softly, so very softly that Tsuna barely heard. Yamamoto jerked and stiffened on the other side of Tsuna.

Brown eyes opened wide with uncertainty and just a little bit of worry, and Tsuna's hand unconsciously reached out to gently touch the back of Gokudera's hand, which lay clamped tightly on his legs; his knuckles had begun to turn the color of scar-tissue white.

A jolt ran through Tsuna when he touched the smooth skin on the back of Gokudera's hand, as if he had stuck his finger in an electrical socket.

_He could hear the skin ripping off her scalp, the wet suction of hair from bone, the skull underneath painted rose red, cherry red, blood red._

_A man with white hair laughed as her straggly brown hair came off in his hands. Her dying gurgles bubbled out of her throat, crimson and drenched with blood that dripped off the side of the building she was dangling from, splattering on the sidewalk that seemed to loom in front of the brown haired boy._

"_Tsunayoshi~" the man called flippantly, still smiling, gently swinging the hanging body in his hands side to side. Swing swing, drip drip… it was a sick kind of pendulum that hung from that man's hands. _

"_Why are you standing alllll the way over there?" the white haired man simpered._ _Auburn eyes stared at the slowly darkening puddle that dripped onto the concrete in front him, slowly turning his eyes back up at the suspended, bleeding mass above him ."You might not be able to…" The man smiled suddenly, purple eyes curving up. _

"_Catch her." _

_It did not happen in slow motion as it was implied in the movies. It was a rush of color and sound and a roaring in his ears as she fell, like a sack of skin and bones, droplets of red suspended in the air as if frozen before descending after the falling body, her limp hair streaming around her face as she tumbled through the air, and he could feel himself rocketing forward with the strange flickering fire coming from his hands, burning bright. _

_He had not caught her. _

_As he stood there staring at the shattered body, hair strewn around her head, her blank eyes staring back at him, (accusing, reproaching, why didn't you save me?) a hand reached out and touched his own, still fiery with flame._

"_Gokudera…" he had whispered brokenly._

Tsuna wrenched his eyes open and gasped for air, tears dripping a trail from his face to disappear into his brown hair.

His head was in Yamamoto's lap, staring up at worried eyes and eyebrows crinkled together, while Gokudera wrung his hands above him.

Tsuna jolted up and almost fell over, still shaking from the image of blood streaked hair.

"W-what? What happened? Such a nightmare…"

He whispered, gathering himself in his arms, as if to protect himself from the horror of his dream, so vivid and… real.

A hand touched his shoulder, and he whipped around to confront two pairs of worried eyes.

"Tsuna…?" Yamamoto whispered.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I was- I was… I dozed off, I don't know, I guess I was up really late." Tsuna laughed nervously, hand scratching the back of his head. His cheeks tinted at the thought that he had fallen asleep mid-conversation as Gokudera and Yamamoto looked at each other worriedly.

'_That was so clear,' _shivered Tsuna, as he returned down the rooftop stairs, lunch having ended with the ringing of the school bell.

He wrote it off as a result of the late night he had, attempting to beat last boss in his video game (which had taken him about 17 long, difficult attempts) and gorging on two large bags of chips.

'_Maybe I shouldn't eat junk food so late at night,'_ Tsuna mused. _'It seems to do strange things to your mind.'_

Still, Tsuna had this strange niggling feeling in the back of his head, as if that dream were something important that he should remember…

Tsuna looked nervously behind him. Gokudera and Yamamoto trailed behind him, like silent shadows.

They were still following him.

But why?

"You idiots," a voice hissed. "Just because he's like this now doesn't mean his Vongola hyper intuition has gone away. Act. _Natural. _He suspects."

808080

Tsuna toed off his shoes at the entrance of his house, sighing in relief. Home was a sanctuary of warm wooden flooring, cream colored walls, his mother's smile, and of course, her _awesome _cooking.

"Okaa-san?" he called out. "Can we have miso soup today?" His mouth positively watered at the thought of tasting that hot salty soup after a long, confusing day. Seaweed! Tofu! Miso! What was there not to love?

"WAHHH!" came a war cry, and suddenly, something black and hairy and _cow-spotted _was launched into his vision. Or more correctly to say, his face.

"BLARGH."

Tsuna tried to spit out the hair that was in his mouth, which, oddly enough, tasted of grape candy, lollipops, other unmentionables and… was that gun powder?

He held the … _thing _that had flew into him at arm's length, rather frightened at what it might be.

A bawling, tear and snot covered baby with the most amazing afro and cow print suithe had _ever _seen looked back at him.

Tsuna screamed.

The cow-afro-baby screamed.

Tsuna almost fainted.

The baby looked at him with teary eyes, than wiped snot on Tsuna's sleeve.

Tsuna screamed.

The cow-afro-baby kicked him in the face and ran away, still screaming. Tsuna suddenly noticed a strange dumpling shaped head with a tiny black braid sticking out running around the corner after the freaky baby.

"Okaa-san! Okaa-san! There are strange things in the house! Really strange things!" Tsuna stumbled into the kitchen, holding his snotty sleeve as far away from him as possible.

"Ara, ara, Tsuna," Nana chided. "You shouldn't scare Lambo-kun and I-Pin-chan like that. You'll get them too excited!"

Tsuna suddenly noticed the large poof of black hair and shrieking baby that Nana was holding to her chest, and a dumpling holding onto her pant leg.

"Wah- Lambo-kun? I-Pin-chan? What are those?" Tsuna shrieked.

"These!" Nana said cheerfully, and held out a teary, boogery mess, and a really, really, chinky baby.

"Hiee!" Tsuna gasped. "What's with those names?" _'What's with those babies?' _

"Lambo-san is from Italy, the world's greatest hit man! Lambo-san will blow you up!" bawled the lump of tangled hair. Tsuna could not believe how _big _Lambo's hair was.

"Lambo!" said the dumpling, in a high, squeaky, distinctly foreign voice. "Behave!"

Lambo wriggled out of Nana's grip and onto the white tiled kitchen floor, before scampering away through the kitchen door and up the stairs, still snuffling under his breath.

"Lambo!" I-Pin said in that high-pitched voice of hers. "Come back!" A braided dumpling raced up the stairs after him.

"Tsu-kun, can you go get Lambo-kun in the bath?" Nana asked, turning back to the miso soup she was making on the stove. "It's almost time for lunch, and now Lambo-kun's all messy. I'll bathe I-Pin-chan later."

"But- _Okaa-san, _why are Lambo-kun and I-Pin-san here anyway? I mean, are they related to us or something?" Tsuna wondered. What were these two strange babies doing in his house anyway? Were they his long lost cousins or some toddlers his mother picked up off the street? She was definitely Okaa-san-like enough to do something like that, Tsuna decided.

"Eh… you could say that they're part of the family," Nana said vaguely, back turned to Tsuna so that he couldn't see her face.

"Now… bath time! Bath time! Chop chop!" she laughed, turning down the stove and pushing Tsuna up the stairs. "Lambo-kun is really hard to find when he doesn't want to be found, so you should get started looking for him now! I-Pin will help, she's so responsible!"

Tsuna sighed resignedly and tromped up to stairs to find this strange baby. With an afro like that, he mused, it shouldn't be too hard, right?

After half an hour of searching for afros and calling Lambo's name with I-Pin (he learned that she was Chinese, hence the strange accent and choppy Japanese, and that she couldn't see well when she stumbled into a doorway about four times), and another fifteen minutes of wrestling the ridiculous cow suit off of squirming arms and kicking legs, Tsuna finally got Lambo in the bath. Tsuna decided it might have been better off if he had never found Lambo at all.

"Lambo!" Tsuna complained for the fifth time, wet hair flopping over his eyes. "Stay still! You're getting me all wet!" He did a funny nod shake thing with his head down at his sopping clothes, trying to make his point while keeping Lambo in the bath tub.

Lambo was like a wet start firework; add water, and he was bouncing, wriggling, splashing ball of baby, so that most of the water that was originally supposed to stay in the bath ended up on the floor. And Tsuna.

Tsuna had found a multitude of things in Lambo's hair as he attempted to shampoo the hairy black mass. A purple toy bazooka, dozens of pink toy grenades, a ring, and various candies and lollies.

He sighed as he put all of these things to the side where Lambo couldn't get at them while he bathed and wondered how everything fit into his hair.

'_Then again, it wouldn't be surprising if there were another dimension hiding somewhere in that dense jungle of tangles,'_ thought Tsuna.

"Settle down, Lambo!"

Tsuna finally got Lambo to sit down on the side of the tub and began to run his hair through the soapy tangles, smoothing everything out so that his hair began to lay flat against his head. Well, flatter then it was before.

'_Huh,' _thought Tsuna. '_He's actually kinda cute when his hair isn't eating his head.'_

"Tsunaaa," Lambo whined, eyes closed as to prevent the soapy shampoo from dripping into his eyes, (because not all shampoos were Johnson and Johnson, tear-free and hypoallergenic, you know?)

"Yes, yes," Tsuna sighed. He grabbed the shower head and began rinsing off Lambo's head, floppy curls stuck to his forehead and cheeks. Tsuna gently pushed these out of the way, and then moved to grab a fluffy towel to wrap Lambo in.

He grabbed another towel to dry Lambo's hair with. Lambo was silent as Tsuna ruffled his hair.

"Tsuna," Lambo said suddenly. "Tsuna-nii, I've missed you. Why were you gone for so long?"

"What? I haven't gone anywhere, Lambo," Tsuna said distractedly, as he had accidently knocked over the ring while toweling Lambo's hair.

'_Eh? Why did he call me Tsuna-nii?'_

The tuna questioned, straightening back up after picking up the fallen ring.

"Tsuna-nii will be with me forever and ever, right? Because you aren't Dame-Tsuna anymore."

"Hehe, what are you talking about, Lambo?" Tsuna laughed nervously. He was always going to be Dame-Tsuna, right?

"Tsuna-nii doesn't remember our promise …" Lambo's face scrunched up, cheeks flushing red and tears starting to leak out of the corner of his eyes. But he made no sound. Not a sound.

"E-eh! Lambo! Why are you crying!" Tsuna panicked, quickly wiping away the warm tears.

'_Remember? What am I supposed to be remembering?' _This was really starting to bother Tsuna. Hadn't something else like this happen today?

"… gone for a long, long time… because you were sick…"

"Lambo? You're mumbling, I can't hear you." Tsuna said nervously, afraid to set the baby off again.

"Since Tsuna-nii is Dame-Tsuna again, Lambo-sama will protect Tsuna-nii instead," Lambo suddenly announced, jumping onto the counter top.

His towel fell to the ground, piling into to fluffy mound of terry cloth goodness.

"LAMBO!" Tsuna screeched. "YOUR TOWEL!"

After wrestling Lambo into a clean cow suit and bobby pinning down his hair so Tsuna wouldn't have to worry about _things _growing in it ("Tsunaaa-nii," Lambo whined. "Where do I put my candy now?") Tsuna tromped downstairs, Lambo in arm, clean, fresh, and cuter, now that his afro was diminished.

"Wow! Lambo-kun looks so cute!" Nana gushed as she set dinner on the table. I-pin, sparkling and bright cheeked, was helping her. "Did you pin down his hair? Aw, that's so sweet of you, Tsu-kun. You'll make a great parent one day! I can't help but be proud that I'm your mother, to have raised up such a loving son."

"Hehe," he laughed nervously. He couldn't tell her that he only pinned down Lambo's hair for his own peace of mind. There might've been something living there, for gracious sakes. He turned his attention to the meal being set out on the table.

That miso soup that Tsuna had seen simmering on the stove earlier sat in the middle of the table, garlicky stir-fried greens, whole baked steaming fish, and six bowls of rice delicately placed around it, chopsticks set neatly on the side.

…

Six bowls?

"Okaa-san, are we having guests over?" Tsuna asked with dread. Oh, dinner was going to be so _awkward. _He hated it when guests came over. There was absolutely _nothing _to talk about. He couldn't talk about school, because he was horrible at that. He couldn't talk about sports for the same reason. The only thing he could remotely even hold a conversation over was video games, and he doubted that if it was guests that his mom invited over, that they would enjoy speaking about the pros and cons of current video game. (He preferred the prequel to the game he was playing better; it was so _annoying _when he had to keep powering up again and again.)*

"Mmm, they're a little bit more like house guests, Tsu-kun," she said absently.

"What! When'd they come? I didn't even notice!"

"Haha, Tsu-kun, sometimes you're so clueless," she laughed lightly. "They've been here for a bit. They're family too."

'_There's something fishy going on,' _Tsuna thought to himself. '_Something very fishy… or, um, I might really have not noticed,' _he sweat dropped.

"Who are they?"

"Oh, speak of the devil; here they come."

A small, short, brown haired boy walked in, a quilted green jacket much worn wrapped his small frame, along with a striped scarf. He held a large book that he clutched tightly to his chest, as if he could not bear to let go. He had a kind, smiling face; cute and open.

The woman flanking him walked in with her hips swaying, bubble gum hair swinging behind her, dangerously seductive and entrancing. She seemed comfortable in her own skin, shapely and stunning, and walked with a confidence that said she was beautiful woman and she knew it.

Tsuna gaped. When had his mom known these kind of people! He had imagined housewives just like her; bubbly, giggly, and smiley. Not cute little boys that still belonged in elementary school and sexy pink-haired woman whose smirks could make men prostrate themselves at her feet.

Tsuna paused. Oh dear. Who was his mom getting mixed in with?

"Tsu-kun, this Fuuta-kun and this is Bianchi-san," Nana smiled as she put a hand on Fuuta's head, gently patting down a stray cowlick. "Please get along well with them!"

"H-hello. It's very nice to meet you all!" Tsuna stuttered and bowed, keeping his fluffy head down. A hand ruffled his hair, and he glanced up shyly to see the woman, Bianchi smiling gently down at him.

"Please take care of us," said the young boy. Fuuta tugged him to the loaded table, and scooted his chair closer to his as he sat down. When Tsuna looked at the brown hair boy that sat at his side, all Fuuta did was smile brightly, mouth already full of rice.

Tsuna looked down and smiled secretly beamed at the steaming bowl of rice Bianchi had laid out for him. Maybe this dinner wouldn't be so bad after all.

* * *

* Can anyone guess what this game is? Kudos to you if you do. It's giving me a lot of grief right now, I'll tell you that. ;.;


	3. At Peace

_CHAPTER 3:AT PEACE_

Tsuna woke up the next morning, rested and at peace. Dinner had gone very well. Well, as well as you could with two hyper-active babies intent on stuffing themselves with the delicious dinner that his mother had cooked.

He grimaced.

He could still feel the ghost of the fish that had been flung on his face by Lambo's stray foot.

Rest in peace.

Anyway, he had gotten up actually almost on time today(note: only ten minutes later!) and he slowed down his morning routine enough so that he actually stepped over his video game controllers instead of attempting to wade through the tangled mess.

It was very… relaxing. Tsuna sighed. Maybe he should wake up earlier more often. He paused. And shrugged. Then again, maybe not.

As he went about his daily routines (damn, still no facial hair?) he thought about his new house mates and unknowingly let out a small smile. Life might be more enjoyable with these new people in his life.

"Tsunaaa!" a voice called from downstairs. "You're going to be late!"

"Ah!"

Tsuna ran down to the kitchen, where Fuuta was sitting sleepily, head nodding down every now and then, his face coming dangerously close to being intimate with his rice bowl.

"Good morning, Tsuna-nii."

"Eh? Fuuta-san, you don't need to be up so early, right?"

Fuuta gave him a small, sleepy smile. "I wanted to see Tsuna-nii before he left for school today."

'_Ah, again, he called me Tsuna-nii?' _

Tsuna puffed up with pride a little on the inside, and smiled as Fuuta gave him a warm hug. He felt good, having all these people who thought of him as an older brother. It made him feel… useful. Good about himself. Special.

On the outside, Tsuna smiled at Fuuta and hugged him back, then sat down next to him, prepared to eat a delicious, nutritious meal of whatever his mom was making. This morning was turning out very well. He heard the soft slap of feet plodding into the kitchen and turned around to meet the beautiful pink haired woman from yesterday coming toward him with a plate of food in her hands.

"Oh, good morning Bianchi!"

She nodded at him. "Tsuna," she replied in acknowledgement, eyes lingering a bit on his face as she set down his breakfast before him.

Tsuna looked down and blanched. It was purple, bubbling, and he could see fumes wafting the radioactive potatoes that inhabited the plate . A poor fly that had meandered indoors caught a whiff of it and started to wobble in its flight. It ended up crashing into a wall and fell down, either unconscious or dead.

This morning was not turning out too well.

Tsuna gulped as he looked at Bianchi's expectant eyes. "I made it especially for you today Tsuna, since- we had to celebrate our acquaintance."

Tsuna smiled nervously and nodded. "Yea! Yea, it looks de-delicious Bianchi-san! Thanks for taking the trouble to make it for me."

"Well, go on, eat it!"

Tsuna swallowed. And look back down to the Plate of Death.

"Itadakimasu…"

~Tsuna lived, but just barely.~

A noticeably green person stumbled onto the school grounds, seconds before the bell rand (i.e. seconds before being bitten to death) holding his stomach and groaning. He seriously thought he was going to die, because his breakfast was currently trying to eat its way out of his stomach.

He whimpered. He didn't want to die. There was a full, long life ahead of him! A useless life, but a life nonetheless!

Tripping into the classroom, he tried not to throw up as his stomach turned in on itself trying to reject the vile, nasty substance (what did she put in there? Rat poison? No, she had replied. One hundred percent pure love. Tsuna immediately felt sorry for any past and future lovers.)

He whimpered and laid his head on his desk, breathing deeply. He didn't need the embarrassment of throwing up down the front of his shirt to add to his already worthless reputation. The churning in his stomach intensified until it closely imitated boiling lava. It felt a lot like boiling lava too, Tsuna despaired.

A warm hand touched his shoulder.

"Te- Sawada-san? Is- is there something wrong?"

He looked up into worried green eyes. They had feelings in there that, he was not quite sure about. Familiar, but strange to the useless Tsuna he was now. Where had he seen…?

"Um…? Go-Gokudera-san?" Tsuna inquired. "I-I'm! Fine! I ate something bad this morning, haha," Tsuna said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

Gokudera's eyes widened, green lamplights, and then narrowed. "That damn woman…" he growled.

"Eh? You know Bianchi, Gokudera-san?"

"Oh. Well, she's, kinda, um, myitalianolderhalfsister." Gokudera stuttered.

"Wha? She's your older sister?"

"Technically, she's only half my sister," Gokudera laughed awkwardly.

Oh. Oh wow! What a coincidence! Why was Gokudera's half-sister staying over at his house? What exactly was the situation? Where was Gokudera living? These questions ran through Tsuna's mind, but he decided that it was little bit to personal to ask this of someone who had only met the day before.

"Oh. Um, you know she's staying at my house right now! You could come over and visit if you want," Tsuna stumbled. "That is, if you want to, you know, I don't mean to be pretentious, I guess you have better things to do then to visit my house-"

Tsuna was desperate to keep talking to Gokudera. Nobody had ever, _ever _willingly started a conversation with him before, unless it was to make him do classroom chores or to yell at him about something stupid he had done. Perhaps, this new Italian transfer student could be, dare he say it, his… friend? It was a rather pathetic attempt; surely this cool, suave Italian student would never want to visit Dame-Tsuna's hou-

"Sawada-san. I would love to." The smile he showed was so small and endearing; Tsuna couldn't help the shivers that went up his spine.

"O-oh. It's not a problem, I guess," Tsuna said blushing, face red. "W-when do you want to come over?"

"Today! T-today, because I…"

I can't stand another day without being at your side.

The words lingered unspoken in the air. Tsuna cocked his head in confusion. Instead, Gokudera took a deep breath and gave a big smile. "I haven't seen Bianchi in quite some time."

"Okay, I understand." Tsuna smiled shyly, puffy cheeks tinting pink in pleasure. Someone was coming to his house! This was- this was exciting! This was the first time, ever, that he had ever invited someone to his house. It was almost like, like having a friend.

Tsuna had been lonely for a long, long time. Being friendless until middle school was something that affected Tsuna deeply. There was no one to support him, no one to cheer him on, no one to try to make him be his best, no one to lean on or comfort him. There are limits a parent's love can reach, because they can't be there with you 24/7, and they can't understand the processes of a child's mind.

And so he was useless. Not good at anything. Loneliness was not a palpable thing, but it was a sponge that became heavier and heavier as time passed, an accumulation of cold remarks and bullying and empty feelings and friendless days.

"Hey! Gokudera! You can't just hog Tsuna all to yourself!"

"E-eh? Yamamoto-san?" Tsuna said, bewildered. He was getting more company then he ever got in well, ever.

"Hey, Tsuna-san." Yamato smiled and seem relaxed, in comparison to the tense atmosphere that had surrounded him during lunch yesterday.

"Let's hang out again today." He made himself comfortable on the neighboring desk, smiling at Tsuna.

"Baseball freak," growled Gokudera. "What are you trying to get Te-…Tsuna-san to do?"

"Haha, nothing! I just want to be friends."

Gokudera stared at him for a while, green eyes piercing him.

"Alright," he whispered, turning away.

A decision had been made.

Yamamoto smiled and gently laid a hand on Gokudera's shoulder, whose back was toward him and eyes glaring at the floor.

'Ah,' he thought. 'He's shaking.' Yamamoto squeezed his shoulder reassuringly to stop the trembling and turned smiled at Tsuna, who cocked his head puzzled.

"So, on the roof top like last time sound good? Haha."

"Yeah," smiled Tsuna. "Yeah."

"Haha, that's cool! Kay, see you later, Tsuna, Gokudera," smiled Yamamoto before he walked outside the classroom, heading down toward his shoe locker.

"Was that good enough for you? Natural enough? Just like… just like old times?" Yamamoto asked quietly as he bent down on the pretense of tying his shoe next to a familiar fire alarm box.

"Maybe," responded a silent voice.

Yamamoto stood, hands trembling just a little bit, and walked away.

Lunchtime found Tsuna waiting on the roof, nervously picking at his bento and glancing at the door, waiting to see if either of his new… dare he say it, friends? Would come out smiling and walking towards him. He waited, two more minutes, five more minutes, ten more minutes.

And finally, he had turned away from the door, tears threatening to brim in his eyes, when the door slammed open and a cheerfully grinning Yamamoto and a scowling Hayato walked out.

"Hey Tsuna," Yamamoto said casually. "Sorry about the wait! Hayato mouthed off to his math teacher in class so he got scolded for a little bit, haha."

"Fucking math teacher, can't even handle a little bit of fucking bad language." Gokudera glowered at the ground.

"Oh. Oh, okay. Okay!" When Tsuna turned around to smile timidly at them, it was with all the joy in the world.

"I hope you weren't waiting for too long, Te-Tsuna," Gokudera said, as he plopped down on the concrete on Tsuna's right side.

"No! Not at all! I'm- I'm glad you came at all!" Tsuna said, tucking his head and nervously picking at his bento.

"Aw, haha, Tsuna," Yamamoto said as he swung his arm around Tsuna, who eeped, "we'll always be here for you. Always."

"Y-Yea! What the idiot said!" Gokudera cried out, blushing furiously.

"Ah. O-okay. Okay. Thanks. But…

Why?"

Yamamoto and Gokudera paused at Tsuna's question.

Why? Why did they want to be friends with him? Why not someone cooler and more popular, because heaven knows they could have easily done that. Why Dame-Tsuna?

They exchanged secret glances, warm chocolate meeting glinting green, a secret message passing between them that Tsuna could not decipher no matter how hard he tried.

Yamamoto smiled tiredly, while Gokudera hung his head between his knees. "Because we're friends now, right?" Gokudera spoke, muffled by his pants and though Tsuna couldn't see it, the gritting of his teeth.

"Oh, I-I guess so. That's really….. Thanks. Thanks then. For- for being my friend."

When Gokudera met up, he was met by Tsuna's small smile that burned into his eyes, replacing all the bad memories he had just been reliving. Gokudera smiled hesitantly in reply.

Yamamoto stared off into the distance as this occurred, and his hand reached up almost unconsciously to stroke Tsuna's hair, as if to remind him that this precious person was still here in his arms, not gone to a far off place that he and Gokudera could not have reached no matter what plane, boat, or car they traveled on.

When Yamamoto finally touched the soft brown strands, Tsuna turned quizzically, and then smiled at him, warm brown eyes curving up into glad arcs. Yamamoto jolted at the familiarity of this expression and felt tears prick his eyes. Yes, this was his precious person. He was here in his arms, next to Gokudera, somewhere where they could touch him, save him, protect him, love him, not gone to that far off land where no one could reach him, not even Reborn.

Yamamoto buried his face into his fluffy hair and smiled, hoping that Tsuna didn't feel the warm droplet that fell from his eye.

Yes, Tsuna was right here, right now.

* * *

a/n: Okay, well I've been MIA for a long time now. Like a year. -shoots self in head- Yea, prettty terrible. But it was a hectic leg of my life and I'm coming back down from it. I feel changed and the better and stronger for it. I'll try to update RtV more often, but no promises! Anyway, enjoy the chapter, and tell me what you think of it with that little button that says review. :)


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